Middlesex picks for Sept. 14-15

South Brunswick and Monroe approached the 2012 season with a drastically different look from a year ago.

South Brunswick graduated nine offensive starters and seven defensive starters from the best team in its 52-year history, which posted a 10-1 record, won the Greater Middlesex Conference-Red Division crown and reached the Central Jersey, Group 4 semifinals.

The Vikings also have a new head coach in Joe Goerge, a man who has never worked in Middlesex County but has made stops in New York (Port Richmond), Somerset County (Franklin) and Union County (Dayton).

Monroe, meanwhile, returns eight offensive starters and seven defensive starters from its worst season since the resurgence of the program in 2005. Just three years removed from the first sectional title in school history (Central Jersey Group 3), Monroe was 1-9 last year, including a 48-0 loss to South Brunswick.

Entering this season with totally different looks, both Red Division clubs got off to confidence-building starts a week ago. South Brunswick posted a 34-0 victory over East Brunswick and Monroe a 44-27 victory over North Brunswick, which was expected to have a big season.

So when the two hook up tonight at 7 p.m. at South Brunswick in the Middlesex County game of the week, one figures to leave without a perfect record.

South Brunswick will be meeting a team with a different style than it faced in East Brunswick. A ball-control team, East Brunswick did a masterful job of maintaining a 28:16 to 19:44 advantage in time of possession.

But the South Brunswick defense, led by 6-1, 225-pound lineman Ken Drost, who had three tackles for loss in the opener, did not let East Brunswick do anything with the ball as it limited the Bears to 64 total yards and two first downs. East Brunswick was 2-for-11 on third-down conversions and 0-for-2 on fourth down.

Offensively, South Brunswick didn’t put up big numbers -- 185 total yards -- but 11 different players had the chance to run the ball, with Dion Hooper leading the way with 61 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. Quarterback T.J. Perkowski completed 5 of 7 passes for 63 yards.

While East Brunswick is a ball-control, clock-control club, Monroe runs a no-huddle offense. The team has many seniors, but there is also a solid mix of youngsters, including sophomore quarterback Stephen Karoly and sophomore running back Akeer Franklin.

Monroe racked up 414 total yards in its opener, including 337 on the ground as Franklin rushed for 168 on 13 carries with one touchdown and senior back Alex Rivera added 111 on 19 carries with two touchdowns. Karoly, who rushed for 44 yards and on TD on nine carries, completed 6 of 13 passes for 77 yards, which included a 35-yard TD pass to senior Nick Isola. South Brunswick 21, Monroe 14

Colts Neck (1-0) at North Brunswick (0-1): Senior Mike Campbell threw for 124 yards and two touchdowns in his varsity debut last week for Colts Neck, while North Brunswick and QB Tim Parson (238 yards) will be looking for the win column for the first time.
North Brunswick, 21-20.

Woodbridge (1-0) at New Brunswick (0-1): Defensive lineman Jihad Kinsey, linebacker Jesse Lammers and company will be looking for a second straight shutout. Najear Brown and New Brunswick will be out to break a 21-game winning streak.
Woodbridge, 26-6.

Mater Dei (0-1) at Cardinal McCarrick (0-1): Mater Dei scored three times against Keansburg in a 27-18 loss, so the potential to score points is there. Cardinal McCarrick and QB Jahmal Pryce can score too.
Cardinal McCarrick, 18-15.

Point Pleasant Beach (1-0) at Dunellen (1-0): Dan Tighe (89 yards last week), Kyle Samaritano (88) and Mike Allegretta (87) lead a balanced running attack, while Dunellen is balanced as well with Deon Brown, Casey Wenzel and Tim Francisco leading the way.
Pt. Pleasant Beach, 22-21.

Colonia (1-0) at St. Joseph-Metuchen (0-1) (tomorrow): Colonia has a balanced offense and a swarming defense, led by RB/LB C.J. Cimilluca. Matt Olivo is one of the best RB’s in Middlesex County.
Colonia, 25-14.

Metuchen (0-1) at South River (1-0) (tomorrow): Metuchen, with two-way lineman Dorian Miller leading the way, has a stingy defense, but Doug Ryan-led South River is coming off a 35-0 win over Highland Park.
South River, 20-14.

Holmdel (1-0) at Middlesex (0-1) (tomorrow): Linebackers Brett Lanbert and Frank Condito led the way when Holmdel stunned Barnegat last week, 21-0. Middlesex should have the services of 1,000-yard rusher Al-Tarik Rushing back.
Holmdel, 23-13.